Throwing Snowballs at the Moon

"Like Ronald Quinn being a murderer!"

"Oh come Graham. Quinn had made a bloody good job of covering his tracks, sealed court records and everything. It takes an organisation like Thomas's who do background checks for the government to circumvent the precautions like that bugger had taken."

"I'll let you off, for now. Now we'd better get the children home and settled in.

----------TWT----------

Luckily the children were at an age where they had little idea of what had been going on. The previous twenty-four hours had been a little traumatic for them. But once the dog had tried to lick them to death -- the cat weren't so pleased to see them and retreated to the garden post hast -- and they saw their old rooms again it was like they'd never been away. Of course they asked where mummy was a few times; Vernia and I kind off fluffed around that one.

Around four o'clock a couple of Bernie's people arrived with all of the children's stuff. Social services had only given us two small suitcases they'd taken from Quinn's residence. They explained that it was all of the children's remaining belongings and that Quinn was back in jail again.

I learnt later that on arriving home from the magistrate's court, Ronald Quinn had found Gloria in the process of moving out and apparently he wasn't enamoured with the idea. I have no idea what passed between them, but I gather that they made enough noise for neighbour or someone to call the police. What happened then is anyone's guess, but ultimately they arrested Quinn once again, reputedly for knocking Gloria about again.

Apparently she wasn't seriously injured though, or at least there was no visual evidence of such when I met her a few days later at court to sign the relevant papers. It could be that the police chose to run Quinn in again, to give Gloria a chance to complete her move.

Because she had no idea where she was going to stay, Gloria had called her solicitors for advice about what to do with the children's belongings that she couldn't carry away with her. They then called Bernie's office with the same question and had he sent a couple of his minions around to collect the gear then drop it at my place.

"I knew it would be the last thing you needed the other day having just brought the children home, running off to Quinn's place to pick all the children's stuff up." Bernie told me with a grin later in the week.

He also explained that Gloria was camping out at her sisters flat for the time being. I sort-a got the feeling that Gloria had talked Bernie's two minions into dropping her off at her sisters on the way to my house. Not that that was a surprise to me, Gloria is a good looking woman who had cultivated the art of twisting innocent young men around her little finger, all of her life.

I had planned to call Ingrid after she got home from college that day, but both she and Agda turned up at the house just after the children's gear arrived. Whether someone from Bernie's office had contacted them at the college somehow, or on seeing the children at the house they just realised what was going on, I don't know. But the girls immediately took over from Vernia and myself. That at least gave Vernia the opportunity to get back to the office before it closed for the night.

----------TWT----------

We'd put the excited children to bed before Vernia arrived back at the house again. This time, dragging her beau with her. I'd never met the bloke before but I rapidly gathered that Vernia called the shots in the relationship. Before the evening was over he was bemoaning the fact to me that his intended was a career girl who up to that time had been in no hurry to get married and have children herself.

However as the weeks progressed and Vernia continued to regularly drag poor Tony to the house; in fact he cheered up a bit because he thought that my little ones were making Vernia broody. But that was all in the future.

----------TWT----------

The following day both Ingrid and Agda were to move into my house without much discussion. I'd discovered during the previous evening that Bernie wasn't the only one who had assumed they were going to be the children's nannies, should I get custody. There had to be the two of them so that one could be at the house, whilst the other went off to college. An advantage of part-time courses.

The other point I should mention is that I did have to employ them as nanny/housekeepers; they were no longer living in my house as au-pairs. Mind you, they did (and had been doing since Gloria had gone) nearly all of my housework between them anyway.

Leaving the children with Ingrid and Agda, I managed to get into the office the following afternoon for a couple of hours. Where I found myself greeted by round of applause from all my staff. I really don't know what I'd done that warranted it. I suppose it could have been a show of support from my colleagues.

Of course there were all those papers to sign again, trusting to hell that Vernia had read through the buggers, before I was able to go up to challenge Jerry Hartwell about that report from Thomas's.

"Nothing to do with me, old boy, I'm just the dogsbody."

"You mean to tell me that Jack Goldberg told you to have Thomas's look into things."

"Woe no, no exactly Graham. Their usual background check on you was the basis for that report, but they were asked for a... Well, slightly more far-ranging report on your family and their... er, associates, in the hope that it might be of assistance to you. Jack, okayed the expense alright, but you'll have to look elsewhere for the instigator."

"Jerry?" I demanded.

"No Graham, I'm sorry; I've been sworn to secrecy." Jerry said sternly, but then he grinned at me. "Tell me who do you know who would have that kind of pull with Jack Goldberg? Christ, Thomas's don't come cheep. And by the way, who has recently gone through a divorce as well?" Jerry grinned.

"Ellie?"

"I promised not to say the word Graham. Please don't waste your time asking me again?" Jerry grinned.

"I didn't think she even knew I'm working here."

"Ah now. You, might think Jack Goldberg's a miserable old bugger, Graham. But he's the first to recognise his own mistakes. I should imagine that a certain unnamed person knew the moment you accepted the position with the company. Well, to be totally honest with you, and without naming any names, a certain dogsbody knows for sure that she did, and she's calls him rather often, to ask how you're getting along."

"So what am I supposed to do, call her up and thank her?"

"Oh my god no, she'd castrate me. Canella was adamant that I shouldn't tell you that she's..."

"She's what Jerry?"

"Oh come Graham you can't be that dumb. Canella has a soft spot for you. A very soft spot I'd say. She made me promise to give you some sort of bull about Thomas's coming up with all that dirt on the Quinn guy, during their investigations into your background. But I thought it would be fairer to the both of you if you knew how the cookie was crumbling."

"You're confusing me Jerry."

"Christ Graham, you're a nice handsome bloke, who's divorced with a couple of small children, well almost! Canella is a very nice young woman who's also recently divorced with a couple of little-uns. Now from what Vernia tells me, once upon a time you and Canella made wonderful music together. I'd just trying to say that Canella might be wondering if your instruments are still in tune. I'm just tipping you the nod, my friend."

"Thanks for telling me Jerry. But anything that Canella and I had together was over years ago. I'm not yet divorced and I'm definitely not looking for another wife. Not now, or indeed ever!"

"Please don't take offence Graham. I was just trying to give you a heads up, that's all. Canella has used her influence with Jack to try to help you. I thought it only fair that you know."

"I'm not annoyed Jerry, just confused. It's not like Ellie has even popped in to see me since I started working here."

"She doesn't come near the place anymore Graham. She's far too embarrassed that it was her husband who nearly wiped this company off the map. Pity really Canella was well liked by everybody here. No doubt she'll show up again eventually though, she was always a regular at all of Jack's team building social gatherings. She'd never missed any of them that I can remember, until Quinn ran off."

----------TWT----------

Back in the office I went through everything I needed to with Vernia as quickly as I could and then rushed home again to see... Well I'm not sure why really. I think I went home to make sure everything was all right with the children, as it was. Ingrid and Agda had everything in hand. About the only problem was, the children asking where their mother was.

Oh Jerry had told me that the company -- or rather Jack Goldberg I suppose -- expected that I'd need a couple of weeks flexibility -- how I love that word -- in my working hours before I could get back to working normally. They had as much confidence in Vernia as I did; maybe more if I'm being truthful.

----------TWT----------

With the child custody dispute almost settled by the Family Court order. The divorce judge granted a decree nisi later the same week. Family courts order at that time also being a temporary emergency ruling to get them away from Ronald Quinn. Theoretically Gloria could have challenged it, but apparently her not having taken legal action against Quinn when he first knocked her about, but continuing to live with him -- and keeping the children in the house as well -- didn't go down well with the social services people. And therefore didn't place her in the best light with the family court judge.

On our second appearance at the family court, where up-to-date-reports, had been presented by the social services people about how the children were being looked after and had settled in. The children were formally placed in my care ad infinitum.

Both Ingrid and Agda had been asked to appear before the Family Court -- in my and Gloria's absence -- I assumed at the time so that the judge could approve my childcare arrangements. And there was a suggestion -- by Bernie -- that "somebody" had suggested that something not quite kosher was (or had been) going on between either (or both) the young ladies and myself. Whatever, it came to nothing, and probably didn't do that "somebody" any favours in the judge's eyes.

To be honest I'm not quite sure what went on behind my back, Family Courts in the UK appeared to be a law unto themselves at that time.

The subject of child maintenance was brought up, although I'd asked for none from Gloria. Whether I liked the idea or not, an order was put in place for her to pay me a few pounds every month. Bernie told me it was to set a precedence should our circumstances ever change. At that time, I was earning a good screw, but Gloria was unemployed.

"She'd found one rich bastard, Graham; even if he did kick the shit out of her. You never know she could land herself another rich mug next time!" Bernie had grinned at me.

I have to admit that -- deep down -- I really didn't like Bernie very much. But the again, I have never been very keen on anyone in the legal profession. They always seem to be more interested in finding ways to circumvent the law and the ubiquitous "bottom line", than the moral niceties of life.

The courts issued an order concerning Gloria's access to the children. Roughly it decreed that she should have (supervised) access for a minimum of two hours at a time, on at least fifty-two occasions a year.

A strange order that I had difficulty in understanding until one of Bernie's people -- Bernie himself wasn't in court that day -- explained that reputedly Gloria had family living abroad. It had been suggested -- by some unknown person -- that she might possibly be tempted to abscond with the children and take them outside the British courts jurisdiction had her visitations been longer.

I thought this a ridiculous idea, and I suspect that it was a tit-for-tat accusation slipped in by somebody in Bernie's organisation in retaliation for the accusations about the girls and myself.

Mind you, somebody in Bernie's office -- or maybe it was in the original report from Thomas's -- found out that Gloria had somehow accrued a surprisingly impressive bank balance. So she did have the resources that would have allowed her to skip-out with the children had she been given the opportunity.

It was also brought to my attention that Gloria didn't stay with her sister for more than a few weeks, before she rented herself a really nice flat in town. She'd also leased an expensive car rather quickly as well. Maybe it was the fact that she'd leased, instead of buying the car that had made someone in Bernie's office suspicious her intentions.

It was much later that it filtered back to me that Gloria had started working as a very expensive escort within days of moving out of Quinn's house.

Hey, for all I know she'd been working as one before she moved out on me in the first place. No, forget that; that's just me, being vindictive. But it might go some way to explaining where Gloria's impressive bank balance suddenly materialised from.

----------TWT----------

I would have been happy for Gloria to have far more access to the children than the Court order decreed. But after the first few weeks, when she'd called in at the house almost every other day, her visits to them dropped off considerably.

At the time I'd had no idea about her new working arrangements, so I'd assumed that she'd found herself another boyfriend.

Hey, maybe that was it! It could be that doing the escort thing was Gloria's way of finding another rich mug. The thought never struck me at the time.

----------TWT----------

The children very soon got used to Gloria's absence. Mind you, they'd go potty if Ingrid or Agda wasn't around for more than a few days at a time. It got to the point where all five of us flew over to Sweden for a week just before Christmas, so the girls could visit their families at the same time.

Agda's parents and Ingrid's father had stayed over at my house a couple of times when they came to London to visit their daughters. I never have met Ingrid's mother, or the fanskap.

----------TWT----------

Being in Sweden I missed-out on the company Christmas party. But when I returned Vernia was quick to point out that Canella had put in an appearance, much to everyone's obvious joy.

"Christ Graham, it was like the Queen or someone had walked in; everyone stood up and clapped and cheered. Poor Canella looked very embarrassed. But I think they were all trying to tell her how much they like her and don't blame her for what happened.

"Jerry brought her over to our table and introduced her to Tony and myself. She congratulated us on our engagement, so somebody has to be feeding her all the dirt. She also appeared to be looking for somebody else at our table, until Jerry informed her that you were in Sweden. Then, she looked extremely disappointed.

"Tony danced with her later, and he told me, she was pumping him about you and the children. Tony reckons that she already knew that we go round to your house often. Probably somebody out there," Vernia gestured towards the office with her head, "feeds her all the tittle-tattle that goes on around here."

I'm not sure how I reacted to Vernia making that statement. I thought that she was the world's worst when it came to office gossip. But then again, maybe Vernia is a listener and not a talker (or gossip spreader) if you understand me. She'd only pass on to me, things she'd overheard that she thought I needed to know about.

----------TWT----------

Gloria called into the house early Christmas morning with presents for the children. But she didn't stay for the Christmas lunch we'd offered her. Apparently, she had an alternative engagement.

No, I didn't ask; at the time, I assumed it was with a new boyfriend. Although now, I suspect it was probably with a client.

Looking back now, and taking the way Gloria had been dressed that morning into account, I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that she'd come directly from a liaison with her previous client, either.

----------TWT----------

It was early in the New Year that Jack Goldberg and his wife invited Vernia and myself -- along with a guest each -- to a cocktail party at their home. We couldn't very well refuse considering who'd issued the invitation, but the guest bit was a problem for me, if not for Vernia.

After we'd gone through a whole list of likely candidates as my partner for the evening. It was Tony's idea that he bow out, and just Vernia and I go together. The idea of me taking Ingrid or Agda was put forward, indeed I often went out with one or the other of the girls during the evenings, but usually only to the theatre and that kind of thing. Sometimes I'd go to a show twice just so that both girls could see it. Other times I'd take both girls whilst Vernia and Tony babysat for us.

By the way, a couple of times we caught sight of Gloria with one of her clients; very embarrassing, I thought. But at the time, I thought they were boyfriends.

Anyway, it was thought that a thirty-year-old with an eighteen-year-old on his arm might raise some eyebrows in the office; so in the end Vernia and I went to the party together. As I've said with Tony's blessing. Actually he played chauffer for the evening, so that we didn't have to worry about taxis.

----------TWT----------

I can't say that cocktail parties are my kind of thing. Indeed it was the first really big one that I'd ever attended.

It was kinda helpful that Vernia's parents had also been invited and I spent a lot of my time talking with them, once we'd been introduced. I learnt that it was the consensus of opinion, that Vernia becoming all-broody over my children, was the main reason she'd finally set the date for her and Tony's wedding.

Vernia, of course, appeared to know almost everyone there, because she'd grown up in that particular circle; her father being a member of the same golf club as Jack Goldberg. Anyway often during the evening, she'd vanish off to circulate with old friends and acquaintances whilst I was left talking with her parents.

Obviously there was a lot of confusion as to why Vernia had arrived with me, and not Tony. That was something we hadn't thought about in advance.

Eventually, as was ordained, I had run into The Dragon herself, Mrs Jack Goldberg!

Totally taking me completely by surprise, and confusing everybody still further, she instinctively called me Sparkie. And what's more, with a smile on her face.

God I'd never seen the old witch smile in my life before. But then again, I had been "Sparkie" back then, and I will admit, I had enjoyed the notoriety.

"Jack and I have known Sparkie for years." I heard Mrs G explain to the puzzled crowd, "You wouldn't recognise him as the young tearaway we used to be know though. You know, at one time we thought he might even become our son-in-law."

I couldn't quite get my head around the pleasant smile on the old witch's face as she spoke. "Thought he might become our son-in-law, my bloody foot!" "Feared that he might become," more like; were the thoughts going around in my mind.

I figured that the opportune moment had arrived for me to find the ablutions. Before I made some stupid a comment that I'd later regret. So I made my excuses and left Vernia and her parents talking to the Witch.

----------TWT----------

On my way back from the loo, I'd just encountered a waitress and grabbed another glass of whatever it was she was plying, when I heard the old nickname spoken once again.

A familiar voice said. "Hi Sparkie. How's Bonnie getting along, do you still ride her?"

Bonnie, of course, was the name I'd given my old Triumph. So I knew that there could only one person standing behind me.